Many members
of my wonderful Baptist church family—and
beyond—just
love President
George Bush. They consider him the defender of the prolife
movement, the embodiment of national defense and security and
purveyor of conservative “values” and faith-based
reforms. Books have been written like The
Faith of George Bush—praising
him to where it seems our commander-in-chief can do no
wrong. But I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as
I see my fellow Christians line up unquestioningly behind
the Republican banner of constant wars, Homeland SS and
never-ending strings of nerve-shattering alerts with the
White House at the center. It seems to be pretense, piety
on the sleeve nightmares.

For
those Christian fundamentalists who believe that President Bush holds
to firm Christian doctrines,
they must be advised that Bush has time and time
again praised the gods of other religions. (1)While many Christians support Bush for his Christian
confession and for having been “born again”, this is an
area of concern. One could not imagine Reagan or any former
professed Christian president uttering that the Koran is “God’s
Word” or worshipping at a Shinto Shrine, (2)
or having the US rejoin UNESCO—the same organization that held a conference saying “we are to seek the divinity of
man.” (3) When asked directly if Muslims
worship the same God as Christians, Bush answered,

“I
do say that freedom is the Almighty’s gift to every
person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America’s
gift to the world”. “It’s much greater then that, of
course. And I believe we worship the same god.” (4)

Another
time Bush praised
all religions as pathways to God:

“Miracles
happen as a result of the love of the Almighty, professed
by the way, taught by the way, by religions from all walks
of life, whether it be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu --
people who have heard that universal call to love a
neighbor just like you’d like to be loved yourself and
then surround someone who hurts with love.” (5)

This is against
fundamentalist Christian doctrine!

Where
does the line of diplomacy and Christian faith meet?

Does
diplomacy today mean forsaking basic Christian doctrines?
Born again Christians know better than
to compromise their faith by giving credence to the

spirits of false religions. In the first book of
Corinthians, Paul reminds Christians to flee idolatry and to
not partake at the table
of devils. The idea that God is an archetype
(or pattern of God) present in all false religions is
Universalism, not Biblical Christianity. We should be kind
and loving to those of other religions but there is a time when
the line is crossed into contradicting Christian doctrine.
Sadly many pastors and churches have gone this way,
compromising the faith and inviting universalistic ideas. It
is doubtful that Bush’s pastors have rebuked these ideas
or helped to correct his errors.

But
even with those things aside, many secularists and
non-Christians realize that something drastic has changed in
America
over the last few
years that goes beyond any fear over terrorist threats. Sorrow is felt
over the direction our beloved country has taken. Many see
through the facade and realize that Americans have lost
more then we ever have realized.

Our
Constitution is being whittled away. Today even orderly,
law-abiding protestors know they will be shunted off to
something called the free speech zone—hidden from news cameras.
This was proven even
at the previous Democratic Convention in Chicago and has
continued to this day.(6)

Also
today with the Patriot Act, several constitutional
guarantees have become eroded. Our founding fathers would be rolling
in their graves to realize Americans could be labeled as
enemy combatants and refused due process of law.(7)
The courts are making more recent rulings to hold this back,
but President
Bush has supported this erosion of constitutional rights.

This
is a manipulated population (whatever
happened to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s message of “The
only thing we have to fear is fear itself”?) shivering in
its shoes from unending terror warnings and endless Orange
alerts. Many are
willing to line up against Ben Franklin’s advice about not
giving up freedom for the sake of security.

Every day
we see news from the White House that is contradictory, has
endless holes in logic and outrageous lies such as
Bush's statements that "Saddam was never an imminent
threat while during 2003, it was nothing but a drumbeat of
the same! The very definition of a threat is that it is
"imminent."
(8) The Bush administration has been named the most
secretive presidency in history, even giving Nixon a run for
his money. Most Americans of whatever persuasion have seen
the door slammed shut on open discourse and knowing the
truth. Endless
theories about 9-11 proliferate and there are very few
answers. Today people actually whisper when speaking
politics in a public venue: things have drastically changed
from the America
we all have known
and loved.

Christians
who line up
behind the Republican bandwagon are people with good
intentions. They believe they are being obedient to God by
voting for the party that presents itself as the standard
bearer of prolife and Christian “values.” Some see no
other choice compared to Kerry and other liberal agendas but
they don’t realize that underneath the rhetoric are some
very questionable agendas. Christians
are not to choose “lesser evils” We are not to collude
with evil whatsoever. Sadly, many see no choice other
than joining hands with the Republican Party and
compromising their beliefs even with the misgivings inside
their hearts. Choosing what is right is not an “either-or”
proposition. If both parties are wrong neither should
be supported.

Many
have forgotten the warnings of the past about what happens
when church and state totally combine and support Bush’s
faith-based
initiatives, which sound good on paper but in practice, will
bring more governmental intrusion into churches. One
shocking fact many Christians are unaware of is that Bush
has said that these groups would not be allowed to
proselytize:

"But
I do believe that groups should be allowed to access
social service grants so long as they don't proselytize or
exclude somebody simply because they don't share a certain
faith.” (9)

What
kind of Christian would be against the preaching of the
gospel? Do most Christian churches that sign up with
faith-based initiatives realize that it will be against the
rules to preach the gospel to those they are helping? This
is one of the many things that remain underneath the radar.

Another
matter of concern related to Bush is his involvement in
Skull and Bones. Many theories about this club speak of it
as a boy’s fraternity to a secret group for world power.
Ironically, even the book, “The
Faith of George Bush” admits the troubles foreshadowed
by Bush’s involvement in this group:

“Bush
mentions of the society in his book, A Charge to Keep, has
not served him well. He writes “My senior year, I joined
Skull and Bones, a secret society, so secret, I can’t say
anything more.” It is hard to imagine a sentence better
designed to awaken suspicion. He should have known
better.”(10)

As the public now realizes, both presidential campaigners
are in this group. Two years apart in school, Kerry and Bush
had to know some of the same members. It is hard to trust
those who are in secret societies and many churches have
outlawed involvement in such groups for centuries.

Historically,
many leaders have abused religion to gather support.
Throughout history, leaders have used God to wage war and to
further political agendas. The problem is that while even
the Catholic church historically has defended a just
war—and other churches have
supported the rights of countries to defend
themselves—there have been many unjust political agendas
promoted—including
wars that have led to the deaths of innocents.

Not
many realize the true geo-political plan as put forth in the
Project For A New American Century (PNAC) report.
This report basically outlines a new global agenda
for
America
before 9-11 that is
now being carried out.(11) The pro-Bush book,
“The
Pentagon’s New Map,”(12) actually
outlines the new plan (written by a top naval officer). This
book can be found down at your local Borders. This might
raise some questions as the war drums beat over and over
again. While many people laugh at those on the right and
left who speak of plans for global domination, and use terms
like New World Order, globalism is a real force in the world
and is not a myth nor the rantings of supposed
"conspiracy theorists." For while Christians can
see the march towards Revelation 17 as the world becomes
one, even unbelievers can at least see the threat to America
on many different levels ranging from endless outsourcing of
American jobs to the rise of world governing organizations
like the International Criminal Court. There is very little
honest discourse about the realities of Globalization.

Christians
who speak to liberal youths at anti-WTO demonstrations have made
stands against the fact that multi-national corporations and
the very rich have sought power and wealth, and seek to end the
national sovereignty of nations. One problem is realizing
that while Bush went against the wishes of the UN to go to war
with Iraq, he recently approved the OSCE—a
group under the auspices of the UN—to supervise our
national elections.(13) Many Americans are
unaware of the ramifications of such decisions and that both
the Democratic and Republican parties—as far as globalism
goes—share the same agendas. It is worrisome that many
Christians who identify themselves with the Republican Party
rarely question these plans.

Truly
only God knows the absolute state of the soul of our
president and where good intentions may lie or not. But
Jesus said to judge by the fruits and I believe there are
many issues Christians
need to be concerned about—
such as the direction our country
is heading— and not just accept everything that is going on. Christians
are to be the salt of the world and make stands for what is
right. Pray for all our leaders because anyone can be
reached with the gospel and truth. Pray for our country.
Pray for conversion of souls to the Lord
Jesus Christ. —
contributed

“According
to Muslim teachings, God first revealed *His word* in the
holy Qur'an to the prophet, Muhammad, during the month of
Ramadan. That word has guided billions of believers across the centuries, and those
believers built a culture of learning and literature and science.

And the more we learn, the more we find that many
commitments are broadly shared. We share a commitment to family, to protect and love
our children. We share a belief in God's justice"

The notions of
other religions leading to God are a false one put to rest
with this Bible Verse John 14:26 which reads: "Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

“It was also suggested that inter-religious dialogue
should be preceded by intra-religious dialogue, and the
dialogue should aim at the discovery of universal sources of
consciousness. It
was further suggested that all religions can come together
in joint service to man. It was then pointed out that
this joint service to man will be manifest in the promotion
of human rights, justice and development that is sustainable
and development that creates constant movements of harmony
and good will.

A suggestion was
made that peace will come when we can accept in our own temple
the divine presence celebrated in the temples of other
religions. In a remarkable poetic expression, it was
declared that as one advances in age, one learns more and
more how to smile and wait. It was also felt that a truly
spiritual being wishes sincerely that a Christian should
become a better Christian, that a Muslim should become a
better Muslim, that a Buddhist should become a better
Buddhist, instead of wishing that one should be converted
from one religion to the other. True conversion, it was
underlined, is the inner conversion from egoism to
universality, to
the realization of the divinity of man , and to the
program of action of developing good individuals and
enlightened citizens.

Comment
in context: Look, I
fully understand it's important to maintain the separation
of church and state. We don't want the state to become the
church, nor do we want the church to become the state. We're
on common agreement there. But I do believe that groups
should be allowed to access social service grants, so long
as they don't proselytize, or exclude somebody simply
because they don't share a certain faith. In other words,
there's a way to accomplish the separation of church and
state, and at the same time, accomplish the social objective of having America become a
hopeful place, and a loving place.

(12) The
Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First
Century by Thomas P. M. Barnett From www.amazon.com

This
bold and important book strives to be a practical
"strategy for a Second American Century." In this
brilliantly argued work, Thomas
Barnett calls globalization "this country’s gift to
history" and explains why its wide dissemination is
critical to the security of not only America but the entire
world. As a senior military analyst for the U.S. Naval War
College, Barnett is intimately familiar with the culture of
the Pentagon and the State Department (both of which he
believes are due for significant overhauls). He explains how
the Pentagon, still in shock at the rapid dissolution of the
once evil empire, spent the 1990s grasping for a long-term
strategy to replace containment. The terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, Barnett argues, revealed the gap between
an outdated Cold War-era military and a radically different
one needed to deal with emerging threats. He believes that
America is the prime mover in developing a "future
worth creating" not because of its unrivaled capacity
to wage war, but due to its ability to ensure security
around the world. Further,
he believes that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to
create a better world and the way he proposes to do that is
by bringing all nations into the fold of globalization, or
what he calls connectedness. Eradicating
disconnectedness, therefore, is "the defining security
task of our age." His
stunning predictions of a U.S. annexation of much of Latin
America and Canada within 50 years as well as an end to war
in the foreseeable future guarantee that the book will be
controversial. And that's good. The Pentagon's New
Map deserves to be widely discussed.